♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of vid thamrois narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

announcer: and now, "bbc world news". >> i'm ros atk. welcome to "outside source." the u.s. congressional committee investigating the attack on the capitol building january 6 is now hearing new evidence from a former white house staffer. >> he said something to theef ct on, cass, but i don't know, things might get real bad january 6." ros: ghislaine maxwell has been sentenced for 20 years for helping jeffrey epstein sexually abused teenage girls. victims say she played a key role in his crimes. >> if you think about all the number of people involved in this, the harm she caused is almost immeasurable. ros: the secretary-general of

nato says turkey has agreed to support sweden and finland's membership of the organization. the invitation will be formally extended on wednesday. ♪ ros: first to washington, where the congressional hearing into the attack on the u.s. capitol january 6 last year has just ended for the day. this was refred to as a surprise heang. the woman at the center of the proceedings was cassidy hutchinson, she worked at the white house toward the end of the trump presidency. an aide to the chief of staff, mark meadows. let's hear some of what cassidy hutchinson has been saying. she is describing conversations she had with mark meadows before january 6. >> i from mr. meadows in his office on the couch, scrolling through his phone, leaning against the doorway saying,

"just had an interesting conversation with rudy, sounds like we are going to go to the capitol, there's a lot going on, cass, but i don't know, things might get real, real bad on january 6." when hearing rudy's take on januar6 and then mark's response, that evening was the first moment that i remember feeling scared. and nervous for what could happen on january 6. and i had a deeper concern for what was happening with the planning aspects of the. ros: cassidy hutchinson was also backstage with president trump on january 6. before he gave this speech to his supporters where as i am sure you know at one point he began urging them to converge on the capitol. about what happened there. >> i was in the vicinity of the

conversation and i overheard the president sasomething to the effective, "i don't care they have weapons, they are not here to hurt me, let my people in, they can match to the capitol from here, take the mags away." >> just to be clear, is it your understanding the president wanted to take the mags away and said the armed individuals were not there to hurt them. >> that's a fair assessment. ros: she also relayed a stor about donald trump's desperation to head to the capitol to be with his supporters even to the extent he tried to grab the steering wheel of the car that he was in. >> the president said something to the effect of, "i am the president, take me up to the capitol now," to which bobby responded "we have to go back to the west wing, sir," the president reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at

the steering wheel. mr. engle grabbed his arm and said you need to take the hand off the steering wheel, we are going back to the west wing, we are not going to the capitol. mr. trump then used his free hand to launch towards bobby angle -- bobby engle, he made a motion towards his clavicle's. >> was he in the room as you were being told this story? >> he was. >> did mr. engle correct or disagree with any part of the story? >> he did not correct or disagree with any part of the story. ros: let's bring in anthony z., joining us from washington. we have heard a lot of accounts of what happened that day. why is this testimony different? >> well, this testimony is

diffent because this is firsthand testimony -- at least in some of these instances -- of what was going on in the white house at that rally, at the ellipse, a grassy area outside the white house. she testified how trump knew there were members of the relic road who had weapons and he said -- rally crowd who had weapons and he said to go to theapitol . you could say ths hearsay. like trump trying to takthe wheel from a secret service agent or donald trump saying that he sympathized with protesters, rioters at the capitol saying they wanted to hang mike pence. in that case, that was something hutchinson said mark meadows told her. and the other case was something hutchinson said the secret service agent and a donald trump aide told her about the

incident in the limousine. but most of these are first-hand accounts of what she saw and heard the president himself say. ros: i was awestruck listening to some of it. what the president has been saying in public is not a 1,000,000 miles away from what in this testimony he was saying in private -- he evidently did not want to come out and call for national unity or come out and call, condemn this protesters for what they were doing. >> that was something the committee made very clear during today's testimony, where they played a clip of donald trump talking about how he didn't blame people for chanting "hang mike pence," that they were there to protest what they saw as an election that was being stolen. one of the things donald trump has done, and we have seen it as long as we have been following him, is he says the quiet part out loud -- he says things that are very controversial but because he says them with apparently no remorse, no idea that what he is saying is

offensive, that it changes the way those comments are received. here we have some behind -- someone behind the scenes saying it's not only after the fact but in the moments, as he knew there were pupils with weapons in the crowd and later on as he apparently knew there were people attacking the capitol. ros: i can say donald trump has posted on social media denying trying to grab the steering wheel of the white house limousine. so they are going to be -- there are going to be competing accounts here. help me understand the status of this committee. it is not a court of law. what is the processowards actually settling what they believe is an accurate account of what happened? >> it is not a court of law, though they can issue subpoenas and enforce them by holding individuals in contempt of congress which they have done with mark meadows will have -- mark meadows who has refused to testify. they cannot bring criminal charges specifically about events that happened before or

during january 6. the ly thing they can do is turn the evidence they have guarded -- they have gathered over to the justice department. which is responsible for prosecutions in these sorts of cases. they can conceivably make recommendations that charges should be filed, but they don't have the weight of law. those are recommendations. there is an internal debate in this committee whether they should issue any recommendations whatsoever or let the evidence speak for itself. ros: thank you very much as ever. ♪ ros: we have three really important stories all developing at the same time. the hearings in washington, here's another also in the u.s., ghislaine maxwell sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping her former partner jeffrey epstein sexually abused teenage girls. sentence for recruiting and grooming minors for her former partner, jeffrey epstein.

in december, found guilty of five of the six counts against her, including sex trafficking. she was a socialite. she is the daughter of the late media tycoon robert maxwell. here's more on her story. reporter: ghislaine maxwell ran in the most influential circles, rubbing elbows with presidents and princes while she prayed on minors and groomed them for abuse by her associate, the pedophile, jeffrey epstein. her victims were in new york to witness one of the most dramatic chapters of her downfall. as her life of luxury was officially replaced by a life in prison. any farmer's distressing testimony helped secure the conviction, she read a statement to the court which she shared in advance with the bbc. she explained how the victims will continue to live with the

afflictions of how dealing harmed them. >> there's a system impact for those people's partners and families and loved ones. if you think about all the number of people involved in this, the harm she caused is almost immeasurable. reporter: maxwell showed an utter lack of remorse for her crimes. her lawyers continue to portray her as a scapegoat for epstn, who died under unusual circumstances in prison in 2019. in an attempt to lighten her sentence, they said the british daughter of the disgraced media tycoon robert maxwell had a difficult, traumatic childhood. they described her father as overbearing, narcissistic and demanding, claiming it made her vulnerable to epstein. the courts allowed others who were not a part of the trial to also confront maxwell. >> he had a wonderful, full, beautiful life, and so many of us just didn't have a chance to have that. i think that the closure part

of her sentencing is maybe the beginning for a lot of us. to start having the life that we anticipated we might have, if we had never met ghislaine maxwell and jeffrey epstein. reporter: her sentencing is a significant step towards justice. still, victims want more information, including the identities of others involved in the sex trafficking operation. if they do not g them, she says this will fl like a hollow victory. ros: to our third important story from the states, the number of people known to have died in an abandoned truck in texas is now at least 50. this is happening in the city of san antonio, about 250 km from the u.s.-mexico border. we know this area is routinely about 6:00 p.m. on the evening.r

16 people were also taken to the hospital. the white house has described the discovery as horrific and heartbreing. we are told by the police they made three arrests. they described how they found the truck. >> a worker who works in one of the buildings appear behind me heard a cry for help. came out to investigate. found a trailer with the doors partially opened. opened them up to take a look and found a number of deceased individuals inside. ros: trucks to transport people across the border. the news agency reports this method became a popular smuggling means i the early 1990's amid a surgeon u.s. border enforcement. before t this border was largely unguarded. crossing was easier. it is certainly not guarded no. immigration lawyers tweeted,

"people have been pushed into more and more dangerous routes. truck smuggling is way up." truck smuggling is very dangerous. especially at the moment. because there is a heat wave in texas. here'the local fire chief on monday evening. >> the patients that we saw were t to the touch. it were suffing from heat stroke, heatxhaustion. no signs of water in the vehicle. it was not refrigerated. the tractor-trailer. there was no visible working a/c unit on the rig. ros: southern texas is the busiest place for truck crossings in the u.s. in this tragedy, we know 22 of those who died were mexican and others were from what alum -- were from what alum and honduras. -- were from guatemala and honduras. they come into texas via checkpoints in cities like el paso and san diego. often their aim is to reach bigger cities like san antonio, where they will travel further

into the u.s. this is the mayor of san antonio. >> the plight of migrants, seeking refuge, is always a humanitarian crisis. but tonight we are dealing with a horrific human tragedy. ros: in 2017, 10 people died inside this truck parked at a walmart. back in 2002, 19 people died in a truck southeast of the city. this is a former u.s. attorney for texas, on the dilemma facing the authorities, as they try and stop these tragedies from happening. >> it is a really horrendous policy challenge. because what we want to enforce is our laws and only those determined to be -- determined allowed to be in this country can come. but we also have to think about the system can have inhuman results and what we push people to do. you know, people don't want to

hear it, but a lot of the solutiono that is frankly more funding for a more humane approach to border security but also more effective approach. ros: let's bring in a reporter for the atlantic magazine, who has reported extensively on this issue. caitn, thank you very much indeed for joining us. can you help us understand the current process for people trying to come across the border illegally from mexico? what happens if they are found? >> so, because of what's called title 42, an initiative that trump administration put in place because of the coronavirus pandemic, you have these swift explosions taking place. it's not like a formal deportation proceeding. with lots of paperwork, detention, you will have an opportunity to claim asylum. your process -- you are processed very quickly. there is some argument that the fact that there are little consequences, that it takes just a few hours to be turned around

without any more repercussions, are encouraging more people to come to the u.s. and i think that that is really drawing our attention away from these broader systemic issues, as you just heard. these horrific and tragic incidents are not new and they are not specific to any one administration or political party. i covered the similar incident you just heard about from 2017 under president trump. and the prior incident which was the most deadly that happened under george w. bush in 2003. it's because immigration laws have not changed since then. what an event like this shows us is they are really outdated and having that kind of a short-term memory is really dangerous. ros: some people listening might be surprised to hear that joe biden has left in place a policy the trump administration brought in given that joe biden was hardly critical of the trump administration's approach on this issue. >> so, the biden administration

has really pointed to the cdc and said this is a public health order, something that we need to keep in place because of the coronavirus pandemic. that argument holds less water every day. as a country reopens and life goes back to normal. where mosteople in the u.s. are not maskin doesn't make a whole lot of sense why an asylum seeker should not be able to if they need to cross the border. title 42 though it's out of traditional enforcement policy and that technically it is a public health policy, my own reporting showed the trump administration did it for enforcement purposes under the guise of a public health policy in general. what we know is that harsh enforcement and the militarization of the american border needs more people to reach for these dangerous methods to sneak into the u.s., like in the back of a tractor-trailer. it shows two things --

that are asylum laws don't allow for people who are desperate,wh arunsafe a tt timely and ordery way, and it also shows we have an economy, an economic driver and a great need and competition for migrant labor in the u.s. but don't have the legal visas to support that work. you would have people fighting to get into the u.s., if they didn't desperately need that protection, or if they didn't know they were going to have a job on the other side of the break. sometimes both are true. you really have to look at both sides of the equation to understand how something this tragic ends up happening over and over again. ros: we appreciate you joining us, helping us understand the story. u can read her reporting on the atlantic's website. stay here with me on "outside source." nato has confirmed it will accept sweden and finland's application to become members of the military alliance.

from our correspondent at thet latest nato summit. ♪ ros: the u.n.'s warning about a rapidly deteriorating situation in bangladesh. floods have killed dozens of people and left more than 4 million stranded. melissa people have been forced -- millions of pple have been forced to drink floodwaters, increasing the risk of disease. reporter: hundreds of villages, disappeared. entire districts, submerged. flash floods he raged much of bangladesh's selected region. they have shown no mercy for those living here. his home was battered by the rains. it now sits on a makeshift island. a family which lost so much, holding onto the one remaining memory they cherish the most. a passport photo

the 35-year-old, her husband. her sister also died. both drowned aft the family took a boat out on a desperate search for food and safer ground. ♪ ros: i'm ros atkins. this is "outside source." in washington, the u.s. cons committee has held a surprise further hearing on the storming of the capitol in january last year, with new evidence from a ess to key events from the stn events totration'w' overturn the 2020 presidential election. the british socialite ghislaine maxwell, sentenced to 20 years for helping the pedophile jeffrey epstein sexually abuse girls. next to madrid -- the secretary-general ofo n

s membership of the organization. here is he making the announcement. >> inight of the progress we have made together, turkey has agreed to support finland and sweden, joining nato. i want to thank president erdogan and the prime ministe for the constructive spirit of today's talks. in nato, we have always shown that whatever our differences, we can always sit down, find common ground, and solve any issues. nato's open-door policy has been a historic success. welcoming finland and sweden into the alliance will make them safer. nato stronger. in the area more secure. ros: marc, lots of talk about

turkey. tell us why it was so relevant to this decision. >> wel the country has the second largest army in nato. it's been a member since 1952. it felt and said that finland and sweden were harboring what it calls terrorists. these are mainly kurdish figures. some turkish opposition figures. the country maintains they are members of the band military organization classified as a terror organization by the eu, the u.s. the plan coup failed and 2016. they wanted finland and sweden to lift an arms embargo the two countries imposed on turkey since 2019, so it was going to be a real thorn in the side of thsummit because this was the summit that was supposed to have approved the membership of

finland and sweden. until today, it looked like that was going to be held up. now a major breakthrough -- dave reached an agreement, now finland and sweden will become the 31st at 32nd members of the nato alliance. the border between russia an nato will double in size, with the exception of these two countries. ros:, quickly, when do they actually become members? >> in the weeks ahead. . it's not specified yet. . but there will still be a a few hoops to jump through. ros: thank you very much. the formal invitation follows on wednesday. let's go to outside the courthouse in new york where ghislaine maxwell has been sentenced. tell us more about what we heard in court today, please. >> the victims gave a victim impact statement, six

women were allowed to talk. the trial revolves around for women who were abused -- four women who were abused by maxwell and epstein. what the judge allowed other victims to speak because of scores of women have been abused by them over the years. maxwell herself did not show any reaction, when the sentence was passed down. she was wearing a navy prison uniform, with ankle shackles on which made a noisehen she came into the court she did address the victims, after her sentence was passed down. she said "i am sorry for the pain you experienced," she called epstein a cunning man who fooled all. there were different requests to her from prosecutors and defense lawyers. she made a point of saying maxwell has not taken any responsibility. i spoke to the lawyer of annie farmer. who gave evidence in the trial. the only one that gave her actual name. the lawyer sent to me that she

was not surprised maxwell didn't take any response ability. she was not surprised at the statement. she called it very self-serving. i asked her if 20 years was what she wanted. because bear in mind prosecutors wanted 55 years. she said 20 years was good enough. just to add, ghislaine maxwell will be eligible for supervised release after 16 years. ros: thank you very much indeed. across t program, we have hurt the has been sentenced to 20 years, the death toll in the abandoned truck is now at least 50, and a former white house staffer in washington has been extding the efforts being made to try and persuade donald trump to do more into the storming of the capital on january 6. an nato has agreed to allow finland and sweden to join the military alliance. a lot going on. thanks very much indeed for joining us.

we will be back tomorrow. bye, bye. [captioning performed by the nationalaptioning institute, which is responsible for its ca narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪ narrator: you're watching pbs. ♪ da-da-da-duh-da-da-da♪ ♪ da-da-da-da-da-da ♪♪

♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contribions to this pbs station from